Research Commercialization Academy (BETA 0.01)

Author: Mohana Ravindranath

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Interest: Representatives and analysts from the securities industry offered their suggestions for how the Securities and Exchange Commission could reduce barriers to capital formation for small businesses at a House Committee on Financial Services hearing on Wednesday. Some urged the SEC to speed up its deliberation of regulations that would set the ground rules for crowdfunding under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, while others highlighted the importance of investor protection.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-small-business/post/securities-experts-advise-sec-on-capital-access-for-small-businesses/2013/06/12/529ec360-d38d-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_blog.html

Author: Gary Shapiro

Source: Forbes

Interest: Leaders in the tech community have long understood the need for immigration reform. Good technology and smart innovation know no borders. The next big technological development can come from anywhere in the world. That is why it is more important than ever that we have the best-trained entrepreneurs working within our borders. It is critical that we pass comprehensive immigration reform right now to make this possible.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/garyshapiro/2013/05/22/march-for-innovation/

Author: Rebecca Grant

Source: http://medcitynews.com

Interest: No action is good action. At least for online investment platform the Funders Club that today received a ‘no-action letter’ from the SEC stating that it will not recommend enforcement action. The letter is a green light for the FundersClub and validation that its investment model is legal. The news is significant for the venture capital and finance industries, as well as startups looking for more flexible methods of fundraising.

Link: http://medcitynews.com/2013/03/a-new-model-for-venture-capital-sec-oks-online-vc-fundersclub/

Author: JOSH CONSTINE

Source: http://techcrunch.com

Interest: The SEC today paved the way for a new era of venture capital investing by stating it won’t pursue enforcement action against FundersClub, whose platform lets any accredited investor fund startups in exchange for equity. Before, some thought FundersClub’s founders could face jail time for violating finance laws. FundersClub’s model could be used by others to raise capital online for startups before the JOBS Act goes fully into effect.

Link: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/28/equity-crowdfunding-sec/

Author: Jessica Holzer

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Interest: WASHINGTON—The so-called JOBS Act is yet to deliver a big boost to initial public offerings. The one-year-old law, officially the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, was aimed at helping companies with less than $1 billion in sales go public. But IPOs of such companies in the year since the law was enacted are on track to fall 21%, to 63 from 80 in the year prior, according to Jay Ritter, a University of Florida professor who tracks IPOs.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323361804578386833083221620.html

Author: Paul Spinrad

Source: O'Reilly Radar

Interest: New crowdfunding moves from the White House and Congress are positive signals. In May, I wrote here about efforts I’ve been involved with advocating a “crowdfunding exemption.” As part of the American Jobs Act introduced by President Obama last night, the White House announced that it will work with the SEC on implementing something along these lines.

Link: http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/09/crowdfunding-white-house-congress.html

Author: Fred Trotter

Source: O'Reilly Radar

Interest: New regulations could mark the end of proprietary finance. Currently, anyone can crowdfund products, projects, causes, and sometimes debt. Current U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations make crowdfunding companies (i.e. selling stocks rather than products on crowdfund platforms) illegal. The only way to sell stocks to the public at large under the current law is through the heavily regulated Initial Public Offering (IPO) process.

Link: http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/03/how-crowdfunding-and-the-jobs-act-will-shape-open-source-companies.html

Author: Alan Knott-Craig Jnr

Source: ventureburn.com

Interest: Comparing tech startups and the government is strange, I know. Nevertheless, having just finished a short course on economic development, I’m quite sure there are some parallels in the thinking of professors and civil servants in charge of the economy, and the thinking of the likes of Eric Ries of Lean Startup fame.

Link: http://ventureburn.com/2013/02/startups-vs-government-on-innovation/

Author: Kathleen Pender

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Interest: Congress created equity crowdfunding, but the Securities and Exchange Commission holds the infant industry's life in its hands. The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, passed almost a year ago, will let privately held companies sell up to $1 million a year in unregistered stock to mom-and-pop investors using the Internet and social media. But they can't start until the SEC completes the regulations.

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Crowdfunding-awaits-key-rules-from-SEC-4264631.php

Author: Dave Michaels

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com

Interest: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should urge the creation of a new stock exchange limited to small companies that have trouble raising capital in public markets, an agency panel recommended today. The SEC Advisory Group on Small and Emerging Companies made the recommendation as its co-chairman suggested that a 2012 law intended to increase the number of initial public offerings might fail to have a big impact. The so-called Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act designed to induce more I

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-01/sec-group-urges-creation-of-exchange-for-small-companies.html

Author: Joel Freeborn

Source: http://dailyevergreen.wsu.edu

Interest: The United States has adopted a financial culture where banks are too big to fail and individuals are too small to succeed. The financial crisis and the consolidation of banking titans made it increasingly difficult for small business owners and hopeful entrepreneurs to obtain the crucial capital for enterprise. Small businesses need a new line of credit, and the solution is crowdfunding.

Link: http://dailyevergreen.wsu.edu/read/opinioncrowdfunding130

Author: http://www.delawareonline.com

Source: http://www.delawareonline.com

Interest: In April, President Barack Obama signed the bipartisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act into law. The entrepreneurial community cheered, saying the law would help small businesses raise money during their most vulnerable periods, when companies try to move from early to late stage.

Link: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130127/BUSINESS08/301270012/Entrepreneurs-await-rules-crowd-funding?nclick_check=1

Author: Laura Baverman

Source: http://upstart.bizjournals.com

Interest: Last week, influential crowdfunding advocates pleaded with interim Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Elisse Walter to move a set of rules for legislating last year's Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act into the required 90-day comment period. They feared that the appointment of a new head would further delay the long-awaited legislation that many startups are banking on to launch their businesses.

Link: http://upstart.bizjournals.com/news/wire/2013/01/25/crowdfunding-activists-want-action-now.html

Author: Todd Woody

Source: http://www.forbes.com

Interest: Don’t hold your breath, but the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission could finalize regulations this year to implement the JOBS Act, the 2012 law that lets startups raise funds directly from mom-and-pop investors.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2013/01/25/solar-crowdfunding-startup-lets-ordinary-investors-own-a-piece-of-the-sun/

Author: Staff Editor

Source: http://banklesstimes.com

Interest: Less than one-third of executives with investment banks say that the JOBS Act, which passed last April, has boosted the number of IPOs on U.S. exchanges, according to a recent survey by accounting and consulting firm BDO USA. Conversely, a similar survey in mid-2012 showed 55 percent of investment bankers predicting that the JOBS Act would increase the number of businesses going public.

Link: http://banklesstimes.com/2013/01/23/jobs-act-needs-a-jumpstart-itself/

Author: Michael del Castillo

Source: Technology & Innovation Editor

Interest: If everything goes as planned 2013 will be the year venture capitalists were forced to compete against independent investors, also known as crowdfunders, for stakes in startups. With the implementation of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (a.k.a. the JOBS Act) signed into law by President Barack Obama last April, soon the general public wil be able invest in startups in exchange for equity. That means that sites like the New York-based Kickstarter, which since 2009 has been accepting pled

Link: http://upstart.bizjournals.com/money/loot/2013/01/02/best-funded-2012-kickstarter-campaigns.html

Author: Kevin Lawton

Source: VentureBeat

Interest: Now here is the one percent you do want to hear about! The world is on the precipice of creating a trillion-dollar crowdfunding market. In Australia, the ASSOB has offered a crowdfunding investment portal since 2005. In the UK, equity crowdfunding is already in progress, with investment platforms such as Crowdcube andSeedups. And in the Netherlands, crowdfunding is ramping up with Symbid. The crowdfunding components of the American JOBS Act and the Italian Decreto Crescita are now in the pro

Link: http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/24/crowdfunding-market/

Author: Kim Steffan

Source: News of Orange

Interest: Do you remember in April when Congress enacted the JOBS Act allowing startup companies to raise up to $1 million per year from investors by the Internet without doing the usual things required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell stock (called crowdfunding)?

Link: http://www.aconews.com/opinion/article_7a5f5940-1e3f-11e2-845c-001a4bcf887a.html

Author: Stephanie Baum

Source: http://www.innovationamerica.us

Interest: The third and last presidential debate had few healthcare moments, but one issue that was raised did have some relevance, particularly for any healthcare and life science companies that have benefited from government funding. Should government back companies or should government stick to research grants?

Link: http://www.innovationamerica.us/index.php/innovation-daily/25082-5-ways-healthcare-and-life-science-companies-have-benefited-from-government-funding-medcity-news?utm_source=innovation-daily---your-daily-newsletter-highlighting-global-innovation-news-and-t

Author: Ronald D. Orol

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com

Interest: For the first time in almost a decade, research analysts at many investment banks will be able to attend pitch meetings between their institution’s underwriters and prospective clients seeking an initial public offering, potentially bringing back dot-com era conflicts.

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ipo-rules-may-bring-back-dot-com-conflicts-2012-10-16